Rainbow Rovers beat ex-Premier League All-Stars at Pride match

The LGBT-inclusive Rainbow Rovers beat an ex-Premier League All-Star team 4-2 at the ‘Football United’ charity match for Pride last Sunday. The mixed-gender football match was hosted by Whitehawk FC at their TerraPura Ground as a celebration of inclusivity in the sport.

The Rainbow Rovers team was comprised of LGBTQ+ sportspeople, activists and celebrities, including players from Stonewall FC, the UK’s first gay football team. The Premier League All-Stars included ex-Tottenham star Paul Walsh and ex-Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie, and was managed by former Brighton player Guy Butters.

The Rainbow Rovers’ founder and manager, Sophie Cook, is a transgender broadcaster and writer. Cook expressed the message she hoped the match would spread:

Football holds a unique position within our society to carry the message of diversity and equality into areas that are often ignored and written off.

The game is a universal language that transcends social barriers and this game will send out the message that the beautiful game belongs to everyone regard-less of sexuality, gender identity, race, religion or gender.

Football United? It’s bigger than that, it’s People United!

Highlights of the match included a 25-yard screamer from Anwar Uddin, Aldershot Town assistant manager, to equalise for Rainbow Rovers at 2-2.

UK artist and Turner Prize nominee, David Shrigley, designed the Rainbow Rovers’ kit for the match. It featured a map of East Brighton as well as the LGBTQ+ flag. Shrigley himself is a regular attendee of Whitehawk games, and expressed that his admiration for the club was a result of its progressiveness and inclusivity.